


The Start of Something New

by OllieCatSuperNova



Series: High School Wasn't Meant to Last Forever [1]
Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Ryan has a crush on every dude in East High, Ryan is gay, Ryan thinks he's straight, Ryan's POV, Slow Burn, Zeke has nice hands, and Ashton Kutcher, good one Ryan, i don't even ship it but i need it for the story, there's smut oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-16 02:28:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10561868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OllieCatSuperNova/pseuds/OllieCatSuperNova
Summary: Ryan starts to notice the guys at the school- not that he's gay or anything... or is he? It starts with basketball captain Troy Bolton, but it turns its attention to someone else, who ends up taking over Ryan's entire mind, pushing him to lengths that he never thought he'd go to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the dialog is straight from the movie.

The Evans family was vacationing at their southern resort, and Ryan was lounging by the indoor pool, letting the sun lamps warm his smooth skin. His cell phone chimed, so he sighed and picked it up. It was a video-chat from one of his acquaintances, and the screen showed something that made his jaw drop in shock. Basketball captain Troy and a pretty stranger were taking over the karaoke machine.

Damn the basketball team, gorgeous as a lot of them were, they always had to steal the spotlight. He leaned back onto his lawn chair, staring at the tiny screen, brow furrowed in confusion, but as soon as Troy opened his mouth to sing, Ryan perked right up.

_Livin’ in my own world-_

He had a surprisingly good voice- not nearly as good as Ryan or his sister, but pretty decent. Of course Ryan could give them pointers, and a lot of them, but all things considered... He was leaning forward by the time the song ended, but when Troy and the new girl climbed off of the stage, Ryan turned his phone off and buried his face in his hands; now was not the time to think about Troy kneeling in front of him, leaning forward until...

He looked up, startled out of his daydream, Sharpay standing over him. “Come on, Ry, we have some singing to do.” He nodded, mumbling a short response as he stood, which earned him a chastising from his sister, “Ryan, please! Don’t mumble, it’s pathetic. And for God’s sake, _posture_!”

He promptly straightened up, marching along behind Sharpay. This was going to be a Hell of a long night.

***

When Ryan followed Sharpay into homeroom, Ms. Darbus’ class, he almost tripped over his own foot. Troy was here. Sharpay ignored his slight falter, but only because she knew he was fine and she didn’t want him to embarrass her.

They made their usual rounds before the bell rang. This included Ryan following his sister around the room as she basically just flaunted how rich and popular they were. Ryan noticed how Chad was wearing _three_ watches, and really, who needed that many at the same time? Could high school boys even be more tacky?

The bell finally rang, and as they took their seats, Ryan mentally slapped himself. Duh Troy was here, they’d had the same homeroom since the beginning of highschool, it was just that now… God he saw Troy in a completely different way. He took a few deep breaths, now was _not the time._

He looked around from his seat behind Sharpay as Ms. Darbus made her usual after-break announcements, and without skipping a beat, she chided Chad for bringing a basketball of all things to class, which he then clutched to his chest like it was a security blanket or something. A cell phone went off in the classroom, and Ryan groaned inwardly, way to set off Ms. Darbus.

He pulled out his phone and checked it- but it wasn’t his. Sharpay turned around to look at him questioningly, checking her own cell in the process, and Ryan shrugged helplessly at her. Before either of them could say anything, however, Ms. Darbus made her rounds with the dreaded bucket, collecting everyone’s cell phones- including the Evans twins’- and gave detentions to anyone who had one out and anyone else who spoke up. It was to be Ryan, Sharpay, a girl she called “Miss Montez”, Troy, Chad and finally Taylor. He didn’t really know any of them other than Troy, and he sighed inwardly as he thought the name, eyes closing briefly, but he cut his thoughts off.

Damn it, Ryan, now was _definitely not the time!_

The class turned to a kid in the back, and Ryan turned with them. He’d obviously missed something, but then the bell rang, and everyone shuffled out of class. He grabbed his cobalt blue messenger bag and tried to catch up with Sharpay, adjusting his white-with-chestnut-highlights newsboy cap as he strode after her.

She went to the winter musicale sign-up sheet, and Ryan scribbled his name down, but then Sharpay told him to go along to their next class without her, and that she’d catch up later. “But Shar-” he started to protest, but she cut him off.

“Ryan Evans, go to class.” He slumped a little and went on ahead in defeat. He could never reason with her when she used _that_ voice.

When Sharpay finally got to class, Ryan perked up. “What took you?” he asked, leaning forward in confused curiosity.

“Nothing, dear brother, nothing.” He slumped back again, a little annoyed but knowing that she wouldn’t tell him. Without turning around to even look at him, she said, “Ryan, _posture_.” He snapped up, back straightening.

***

Ryan leaned against the bronze statue of an actual wildcat, casually observing the sign-up sheet for the musicale. Troy turned the corner into Ryan’s line of sight, glancing around before looking at the sign-up, biting his thumb nail and making a speedy get-away.

As soon as he was on his way to his next class, Sharpay made her way down the hall, students parting to let her through like she was royalty. Ryan marched over to the sign-up, grabbing her arm and dragging her with him as he passed her. “Troy Bolton,” he said to her questioning gaze, “was looking at _our_ audition list.”

She looked from him to the board and back. “ _Again_?” she nearly gasped, crossing her arms. She thought for a moment before saying thoughtfully, “He was hanging around with that new girl and they were _both_ looking at the list.” Ryan looked back at the list, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. What could they have been looking at? He studied the names, but nothing was out of order. Sharpay scoffed and left, frustrated. Ryan must have missed something, and now she was mad at him, great.

He followed her down to the computer lab, where she was already typing Gabriella’s name into the search engine. Every one of the results showed her winning some knowledge competition. “Wow!” he murmured, eyebrows raised, “An Einsteinette.” He glanced at his sister, confused, “So… Why do you think she’s interested in our musical?”

Sharpay shook her head a little, “I’m not sure that she is. And we needn’t concern ourselves with amateurs. But…” she trailed off, and Ryan saw a devious glint in her eye, “there is no harm in making certain that Gabriella’s welcome to school activities that are… well, appropriate for her. After all,” she added as an afterthought, “she loves pi.” He watched as she printed out one of the documents and took it with her.

Ryan didn’t know _what_ her plan could be, but then again he was usually left in the dark about these things. He moved to shut the computer off, knowing that Sharpay had long gone.

***

By the time the end of the day rolled around, Ryan was thinking about nothing but Troy, but he definitely didn’t think about the basketball captain straddling him, sinking down to… well, he wasn’t thinking those things at all, no sir.

He continued to paint the ladder in front of him, absently applying a few layers of gold paint as Sharpay stood next to him, watching Gabriella paint a different prop. He assumed she was eavesdropping, but he didn’t really care. He continued to paint the ladder, careful to not get any on his clothes. He exchanged a look with Sharpay when he heard Gabriella say something in a somewhat distressed tone, and Taylor sounded determined. He always did have an ear for drama- in any form- as did Sharpay, who went over to say something to Gabriella.

Ms. Darbus walked by him, and he nodded to her politely as she complimented his work. He never really liked her, but she was better than most of his teachers, and at least she appreciated his work and acting.

Ryan was vaguely aware of Ms. Darbus going off on another tangent, but he was too focused on _definitely_ _not_ Troy to listen to her. He had no clue how much time passed, as Troy had shifted to lie on his side on top of the tree he was putting together, and the movement had caught his eye. He totally would have turned back to his task if it wasn’t for the subtle stitching on one of Troy’s back pockets, and he noticed that one of the seams was ripping.

He mindlessly continued to paint whatever was in front of him- he’d forgotten what it was, but didn’t care either- as he thought about how he could fix it for him. Troy wouldn’t even have to take them off- unless he wanted to of course, and who would Ryan be to object? He would bet his life’s savings that Troy had the nicest butt in the world, and that was a lot of money.

The door to the theatre slammed, and Ryan jumped, startled out of his daydream. Coach Bolton strode towards the stage, and he looked pissed. Ryan felt his face get all hot, and he quickly moved his gaze from Troy’s backside to the ladder in front of him, one tiny area thoroughly painted gold. “Where’s my team, Darbus?” Troy’s dad barked, fuming. Ryan took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down as the coach went on, “What the heck are those two doing in a tree?”

“It’s called crime and punishment, Bolton.” Ms. Darbus explained, going on on another one of her lectures. Ryan tuned them out, trying to finish up with this stupid ladder. God, why were his pants so tight, he could have sworn that they had fit looser earlier- oh. Shit.

He glanced around, making sure that everyone had their attention focused elsewhere before slipping out, finding his own tiny private dressing room, embarrassed. This had never happened to him before, and he had no clue why _now_ of all times. It wasn’t like he was gay or anything. He finished up in the dressing room, and when he glanced at the digital clock in the wall, he noticed that it was about time to get going.

He combed his fingers through his slightly damp hair, pulled his hat back on, and smoothed out and straightened his clothes. He hoped no one noticed what he’d just done.

***

That night, Ryan was restless. He spent most of it trying to ignore thoughts of Troy, shirtless and sweaty from basketball practice, but his stupid mind just kept supplying more dirty images of him. Troy was a _dude_ , he shouldn’t be thinking these things. He finally fell into a fitful sleep, but his dreams featured the very same half-naked basketball player that had been plaguing his mind all day, and he woke to the feeling of his heart hammering in his ears, chest heaving and boxer-briefs sticking to his overly-relaxed body.

_Damn it!_

He was exhausted, and the cold shower he took didn’t help much. He put a little makeup under his eyes to hide the bags, blending expertly, got dressed and went down the steps for some breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryan jerks off, so be warned.

Ryan followed Sharpay into homeroom, quiet after his tiring night. She made a stop at Ms. Darbus’ desk to hand her a small box, and Ryan didn’t bother to wait for her, already taking his seat. She glanced at him questioningly, but he waved her off. He couldn’t answer her questions even if he wanted to, she would only think that he was gay- which he totally wasn’t. He had no clue why Troy was taking up his entire mind, but he did his best to ignore it.

 

He kept fidgeting subtly to stay awake, and when Ms. Darbus announced when the auditions for the winter musicale were to be, Sharpay turned to share a short glance with him, to which he smiled. Chad murmured something to Troy, who snickered at his apparent joke, and Ryan watched them as Ms. Darbus went on to talk about Shakespeare. He had a hard time staying awake, but he did his best to jot down notes on Romeo and Juliet, which quickly got him thinking about Troy again. Forbidden love, tragedy, one of the most famous love stories in the world. He zoned out, staring blankly ahead with a dreamy look in his eyes, just thinking about strong, shirtless Troy, breaking all rules to come meet with him in the middle of the night.

 

Sharpay brought him back to reality when she barked his name, which made him promptly fall out of his desk, face red. “Ryan, you really should get more sleep or something, you seem more spaced out than usual.” With that  she turned and left the room, leaving him to hurry to catch up.

 

Free period. One of the best hours of the day. Ryan followed his sister to the theatre, before they split up to go to their private dressing rooms. Ryan washed his face and reapplied his makeup, for the stage of course. He swapped his bright pink hat for a light green one, changed his shirt from pastel pink to silver with subtle, vertical grey stripes and his slacks from brown to forest green, and headed out to sit in the audience, ready to wait for their turn.

 

Sharpay was already out there, and nodded to him coldly as he came over to sit next to her. The acts were… not all bad? Alan was kind of cute- well, at least he tried. Ms. Darbus simply complimented his tie, which was frankly atrocious, so it was obviously a blatant lie to make him feel better about his voice. There was also a girl who sang the piece opera style, and Ryan was a little fan of opera, but her voice was… frankly painful.  Next was a boy who simply _danced_ across the stage, ballet style, and oh golly _wow_ he had a nice body- not that Ryan really noticed or anything.

 

The last people to actually sing, or say rather, anything, were a couple of interpretive dancers. Ryan leaned forward in interest as they moved around onstage in fluid motions, ending in a cat-like crawl, and he somehow found it really hot. He leaned forward, entranced by the strange spectacle. God, the boy- girl, he was definitely _not_ looking at the _male_ member of the pair- was really cute.

 

Ms. Darbus shooed everyone off stage and announced the Evans twins, and Ryan stood, moving to head up onto the stage, but Sharpay stopped him. He turned to look at her, but she just strode in front of him, and he rolled his eyes, tired of her whole _I’m older so I’m in charge_ thing. She made her way to mid stage, while Ryan stopped by the small girl at the piano when she shyly asked, “What key?”

 

He flashed her a smile, “Oh, we had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement.”

 

“Oh,” she sighed, and Ryan tried to ignore the hurt in her voice. The curtain closed, and he stood next to Sharpay, shaking out his arms and doing his vocal warm-up.

 

“Go!” Sharpay demanded, and the intro started up, both of them sticking their hands out of the gap in the curtain and snapping in time to the music. He stayed focused while they sang, even throwing in a jazz square or three and a one-handed cartwheel, the choreography taking his mind off of the hot boys that he’d been so absorbed with lately. Like Troy Bolton, and come to think of it, Chad was kind of cute too- he backed up too soon and bumped into Sharpay. Shit, that’s what he got for thinking about things other than the performance.

 

The rest of the song went smoothly, and it all ended with Ryan facing the audience, side-hugging his sister, who posed with her front against his left side, left leg cocked behind her elegantly, both of them with dazzling smiles. “I told you not to do the jazz squares,” she murmured to him quietly, still smiling.

 

Ryan showed no sign of hearing, but replied in the same hushed manner. “It’s a crowd favorite,” he explained awkwardly, “Everybody loves a good jazz square.”

 

Sharpay threw the small pianist, Kelsi, a glare, and the poor girl started clapping enthusiastically, but he knew it was out of fear. They drew apart and gave a bow while the small audience applauded them. As Ms. Darbus made her rounds, asking if there were any more auditions, Ryan comforted the people who knew they weren’t getting the part. “Don’t be discouraged. The theater club needs more than just singers. It needs fans too.” He shook hands and patted shoulders, adding, “Buy tickets!” as they left.

 

He went on to chat with some of the guys backstage, mingling. He was a social butterfly, what could he say. He walked back and forth, exchanging small talk with other students while he waited for Sharpay to finish talking to Kelsi. His sister said, “Nice talking to you,” into her microphone and walked over to where Ryan was waiting expectantly. He wasn’t sure what she’d been saying, but he could tell by her tone that it hadn’t been friendly.

 

Ms. Darbus shut off her lamp, nodded to them, and made her way out of the theatre, while Ryan followed his sister out. It was torture going through the rest of the day. Ryan had thought that the song and dance routine would make him feel better, but it had only worked while he was doing it. After they’d left the theatre he was just as tired and flustered as before.

 

Zeke ran into him in the hall at one point, literally _ran into him_ , and Ryan had blushed when the other boy caught him, preventing him from falling. His hands were strong and steady, yet soft and smooth, and Ryan knew he had immense control with them. “You okay?” Zeke asked, voice gentle and soft. God, Ryan needed to stop having these thoughts, he wasn’t gay for God’s sake!

 

Ryan hid his face, choking out a muffled, “I’m fine,” before scurrying away to splash cold water on his face.

 

When he got home he hid in his room the whole time, working his frustration and lust out over and over. He swore that he’d jerked off ten times at least. That night he fell asleep sweaty, limp, out of breath, and he knew he was going to need a long shower in the morning.

 

***

 

“Call backs?” Shapray yelled, madder than Ryan had seen her in a long time. He stared blankly at the audition list as his sister screamed bloody-murder, ending with a little hyperventilation.

 

“Call back for roles Arnold and Minnie,” he began calmly, “next Thursday at three-thirty pm.” He took a deep breath. “Ryan and Sharpay Evans,” he read, “Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton.” He lowered his gaze, expressionless, thinking deeply.

 

“Is this some kind of joke?” Sharpay fumed, and an idea sprouted in Ryan’s mind. “They didn’t even audition!” she went on.

 

Ryan looked up at her, excited, “Maybe we’re being punk’d?”

 

“What?” her look said it all, she thought he was crazy.

 

“Maybe we’re being filmed _right now_ ,” he looked around, as if there was a television camera hidden somewhere. “Maybe we’ll get to meet Ashton!” he beamed, grabbing her arm, his excitement boiling over. Oh God, he’d had a huge crush on the star for a long time- a straight crush, of course. It’s not like he had posters of the man hanging all over his room that he looked at when he jerked off… that often.

 

“Oh, _shut up_ Ryan!” Sharpay barked, shaking him off. He swallowed, embarrassed. Okay, so it was a stupid idea, but a boy could dream, right?

 

Chad came up behind them, pressing against Ryan, who shivered at the warm, strong touch. “What’s wrong?” Chad chuckled, but then he spotted the callback sheet. “ _What?_ ” he breathed, and looked at Ryan intently. _God, why don’t you just shove me up against the lockers and bang me while you’re at it?_ Ryan thought, swallowing thickly and shifting under the basketball player’s intense gaze. Right after Chad stormed off, Sharpay did the same, and Ryan stood there, helplessly staring at the callbacks.

 

He finally went to the cafeteria, bought some lunch, and went to sit with the drama club on the balcony. He smoothed out his napkin, placing his spoon gently on top of it. “How dare she sign up! I've already picked out the colors for my dressing room,” Sharpay complained, pausing from her incessant pacing.

 

“And,” Ryan added, “she hasn't even asked our permission to join the drama club.”

 

She slapped her hand on the table to get everyone’s attention and took them all in, eyes narrow and stance threatening, “Someone’s got to tell her the rules.”

 

“Exactly,” Ryan agreed, turning towards his food again, but stopped, looking back up at Sharpay. “And what are the rules?” he asked timidly. She simply growled in frustration and turned to face the lower section of the cafeteria. Ryan sipped some of his milk as he exchanged a look with Kelsi.

 

The people sitting around down there started making confessions, and personally Ryan thought it was kind of cool. He didn’t know that Zeke baked, and he seemed like he was pretty good at it too. One of the skaters, also known as the stoners, admitted that he played the cello, and Ryan briefly indulged in a little “creative thinking” about that one.

 

Gabriella came in at some point and Sharpay quickly went down to meet her, Ryan jumped up and followed on cue. Sharpay was really upset, so Ryan simply went along with it, not that it was very hard with his stupid thoughts of basketball players... and now Ashton Kutcher. Gabriella slipped in something, and her lunch- chili fries of all things- flew off of her tray, landing upside-down on Sharpay’s… cleavage. _Oh boy, get ready for the shitstorm,_ Ryan thought, bracing himself and slowly backing away, eyes widening.

 

Sharpay screamed, and Ryan quickly took the little paper dish of fries from her, standing there like his sister would kill him at any second. Gabriella frantically tried to brush the rest of the food off of Sharpay, and Ryan stiffened even more- bad move, very bad move. _Never_ get near Sharpay when she was like this, simply apologize and _run_. Taylor grabbed Gabriella and got her out of there, to Ryan’s relief, just as Ms. Darbus happened to come by.

 

“What is going on here?” the theater teacher demanded to know, catching sight of Sharpay’s stained front.

 

Sharpay looked at her, rage morphing into a sad-puppy look that she knew would help her get revenge, while Ryan simply stood there, at a loss for words, awkwardly shifting and fidgeting. She opened her mouth and let out a long complaint, “Look at this! That Gabriella girl just dumped her lunch on me. On purpose! It's all part of their plan to ruin our musical. And Troy and his basketball robots are obviously behind it. Why do you think he auditioned? After all the hard work you've put into this show. It just doesn't seem right.” She stormed off, and Ryan looked at the food on his hands.

 

He absently started eating the fries, not even realizing how weird it probably looked.

 

The next class Ryan had was gym, the most atrocious, degrading class he’d ever experienced. He only had it on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the other three days he spent in the theatre, working on his song and dance. He needed the phy-ed credit though, so he was stuck with this.

 

He quickly changed and bolted to the gym. The other guys slowly filtered out, including coach Bolton, tackling each other and just generally rough-housing. The method of torture was to be basketball today, and really, Ryan should have expected this what with the tournament coming up so soon and all. The class formed a couple teams, and Ryan was to be up first, why he wasn’t immediately benched he had no clue.

 

He swallowed, running among the muscled, sweaty boys of both teams, and after being run into several times- mostly by Chad, who usually pressed his back against Ryan’s front to block him- he slumped to Mr. Bolton, saying he needed a drink and wasn’t feeling well.

 

He jogged out to the water fountain, splashing the cool water onto his face. This was starting to get really old. He went back to the gym, and Mr. Bolton let him sit out the rest of the time. At long last it was time to shower and change again, and Ryan’s face got _very_ hot when he walked into the locker room and saw the other boys stripping. _Oh God, oh God, oh God,_ his mind supplied as he lowered his gaze and hurried to his locker. He _hated_ this.

 

A shower was simply out of the question, not that he was even breaking a sweat. So he changed quickly, facing the wall, and hurried on to his next class, passing Ms. Darbus on his way out. He was so flustered that it didn’t even occur to him how strange it was to see her going into the boy's locker room.

 

***

 

The next few days Ryan saw Troy in the theatre, helping make and repair a few props. He didn’t know what was going on, but he usually was left in the dark. He was having a hard time focusing on _anything_ lately, and gym class twice a week wasn’t helping at all. He was starting to think that this stupid credit wasn’t even worth it.

 

He took cold showers every morning, and most of his nights were filled with dirty thoughts. They started out as Troy, and the occasional Ashton Kutcher, but at some point they had turned into Chad Danforth. Why Chad? He had no clue. Every time he saw Chad his face would get hot and he’d shift his messenger bag to cover his front, and it was all thanks to those stupid dreams. How could he forget how the dreams felt, what they looked like?

 

On top of that, sometimes he’d be walking around in the hallways and he’d hear the sound of someone singing, someone that sounded a lot like Troy Bolton, but whenever he’d look around, no one would be there. He’d try the door to whichever classroom it had sounded like it was coming from, but it was always locked, and when he peered under the door, he’d see no feet. So yeah, he was probably going crazy.

 

Ryan avoided Chad as well as he could, but that wasn’t always easy- or possible. He did have a few classes with the jock, and he didn’t want to raise any suspicion from Sharpay. He was in the library with his sister, when he glanced up to see Troy and Chad walking in. Chad was clutching his basketball again, and really, did he ever put it down? Ryan looked down at his paper where he was sketching out steps to a new choreography piece he was organizing.

 

Sharpay glanced over at him, “Ry, are you feeling alright?”

 

He didn’t look up, just kept on sketching out steps, jotting notes out next to them. “I’m fine,” he murmured, knowing she’d noticed his awkwardness around certain people.

 

She leaned closer, “Is Chad distracting you?” Ryan froze, refusing to look up, but Sharpay went on, “You know, I think they should ban him from the library if he insists on practically yelling instead of whispering.” Ryan sighed inwardly, so she hadn’t noticed. At least not yet.

 

The bell rang and they all shuffled out, moving on to free period. Ryan was following his sister to the theatre, but she stopped by the science room, peering in to find Zeke, Jason and- damn it- Chad talking in hushed tones to Taylor and a few others in the scholastics club. “Something isn’t right,” Sharpay murmured, narrowing her eyes. They shifted closer to try to hear the small group better, but had little luck.

 

“They must be trying to figure out a way to make sure Troy and Gabriella actually beat us out,” he figured, glancing around. “Now, the jocks rule most of the school, but if they get Troy into the musical, then they've conquered the entire student body.” What a thought… he shivered slightly. _No,_ he couldn’t think about that.

 

“And if those science girls get Gabriella hooked up with Troy Bolton,” Sharpay expanded on his theory, “the scholastic club goes from drool to cool.” He glanced at her as she shivered in disgust. “Ryan, we need to save our show from people who don't know the difference between a Tony _Award_ and Tony _Hawk_.”

 

***

 

The next few days they worked ruthlessly on their routine for their callback audition. It was to be a salsa, and Sharpay had picked out her outfit while Ryan was trying to figure something out for himself that would please both of them.

 

He could tell that something was up with Gabriella and Troy, but as usual, he had no clue what had happened, or whether it was even Sharpay’s tampering or not. They would pass each other at lunch, and sometimes Troy looked like he was going to say something, maybe apologise, but then they’d just go their separate ways, it was heartbreaking really.

 

Ryan almost went up to them and said something. Maybe he could fix things between them, even if he had no clue what had happened. He _almost_ tried to fix their problems, but it wasn’t his place, and anyways, Sharpay would kill him if he tried anything.

 

It all turned out alright though, because soon enough, Gabriella and Troy were hanging out again looking happy as ever. He was glad, but he didn’t show it; he never showed anything that might set off Sharpay. They were strutting down the hallway, Ryan was working on their choreography and Sharpay was singing their audition song- the one for callbacks- but she stopped when she heard something coming from a supposedly empty classroom.

 

Troy’s voice floated out, faint and a little muffled by the closed door, but really beautiful nonetheless, and Sharpay gasped in shock. Ryan nodded in approval. “Wow,” he breathed, “They sound good.” Gabriella’s voice starts up again, and their voices flowed together, highlighting each other expertly.

 

Sharpay scoffed and went to the inset window of the door to spy, and after a moment she spun around to face him, “We have to do something.” She thought out loud as they continued down the hall, “Okay, our callbacks on Thursday, and the basketball game and the scholastic decathlon are on Friday.” She smirked, and Ryan knew she had had an idea. Sure enough, she added slyly, “Too bad all these events aren’t happening on the same day… at the same time.”

 

Ryan furrowed his brow, “Well that wouldn’t work,” he deadpanned, “because then Troy and Gabriella wouldn’t be able to make the…” he trailed off when she gave him a look that was a cross between “you’re an idiot” and “think about it” and- _oh_. He grinned at her, despite his inner turmoil at the thought of her plan. “I’m proud to call you my sister,” he found himself saying, and he actually meant it. Not because of her knack for ruining other people’s lives, but because she was smart and clever.

 

“I know!” she beamed and strutted away. Wow she was annoying sometimes, but he loved her anyways- well as much as a brother _could_ love his sister, anyways.

 

They headed to the theatre, and thankfully Ms. Darbus was there. Sharpay explained everything to her, putting in her own twist to make it seem like Troy and Gabriella were out to destroy the drama club, and Ms. Darbus gave them a vague answer that Ryan was too distracted to really understand. He turned to Sharpay as the older woman stalked off. “Is that a yes?” he asked, confused.

 

She winked to him before walking off, singing their audition song yet again. He smirked, amused, and followed her out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is smut in this one OOPS  
> If you are uncomfortable reading about two technically of-age teens doing the dance-with-no-pants then you can skip it I guess.  
> The legal age of sexual consent is 17 in New Mexico(where the story takes place) and they're at the end of junior year, which would make them 17.  
> So it's technically legal.  
> But it's also implied what happens in chapter four so yeah, y'all can skip it if you really want to.

Ryan was waiting in Ms. Darbus’ room with Sharpay, they had an hour to kill before the callback auditions started. Ryan was acting out the choreography he’d been working on, keeping his mind away from Chad. Every so often he’d stop in his movement and jot down a few notes on the paper where he had drawn the rough sketch of the dance. He was just trying a different movement with his arms when Chad hurried in, and Ryan stumbled mid-jazz square. Chad grabbed him around the waist and ushered him to the door, bringing Sharpay over as well.

 

Ryan blushed at the touch, and when he tried to break away, Chad gripped him tighter, sending a shiver down Ryan’s spine. They got to the door, Ryan stumbling the whole way, and Chad finally released him, telling him to stay there and watch. _I could watch you do a lot of things,_ Ryan thought, but shook his head as he realised what had just gone through his mind.

 

The basketball team was standing in the hallway, and they each opened their windbreakers, announcing the letter that was printed on each shirt. “G! O! D! R! A! M! A! C! L! U! B! Exclamation point!” Sharpay smiled at them, pleased, and Ms. Darbus nodded to them.

 

Ryan was confused, however. He could still feel Chad’s arm across his back, pressing into him even though he was at least five feet away now. He stared at the capital “B” on Chad’s chest, too flustered to look away, as he tried to get his distracted mind to read what their shirts said. “G-O-D… Drah… G-go drah… Go dray… G’drame...?” He heard Sharpay huff and go back into the room, but he kept staring. “Drame?” he continued quietly.

 

The bell rang, and Chad bounced over to Ryan, giving him a side-hug and rubbing his shoulder. He turned his head and- oh _God_ he was close enough to _kiss_ \- murmured to Ryan, “It says, ‘Go Drama Club!’ Evans!” Ryan could feel Chad’s hot breath on his cheek, on his ear lobe, and he nearly whimpered right then and there.

 

Chad broke away before Ryan could gasp out any of the many things flying through his head, which was a good thing- he didn’t need to blurt out something along the lines of Chad hammering into him right now, or sucking him off in the classroom. Ryan mentally slapped himself as he watched Chad go, his eyes unable to leave the jock’s ass. Damn it! Ryan _wasn’t_ gay!

 

Sharpay startled him by clasping his shoulder, “Come on, Ryan. We have a callback to prepare for,” and left him standing there, dumbstruck. He shook his head, getting his mind off of Chad and onto the audition. He was going to _ace_ this choreography, he just knew it.

 

He went straight to the Evans’ joint-dressing rooms, Sharpay’s much larger than his, but he only used his when he needed to make a more private change. He stripped, leaving on his New York t-shirt that he’d worn under his button-down, and slipped into some sweatpants while the prop-guys ironed their clothes. He knocked on Sharpay’s door, and she let him in, only wearing a pink robe herself, and they got started on their vocal warm-ups. They rolled their lips, stretched their muscles, and did a lot of other things that would be impossible to explain if Ryan ever had to.

 

He simply followed her lead until she held up her hand and said, “Stop!” She turned around and fell towards him, and he caught her smoothly, bringing her back up with ease. She turned to face him again, placing her hands on his shoulders and saying calmly, “I trust you.”

 

To which he nodded and replied, “Energy.” They took deep breaths, using their arms to draw in the positive, calming energy yoga-style. After a while they nodded to each other once again and Ryan headed to his private dressing room to put his show clothes on, giving Sharpay privacy to do the same. He changed into a white undershirt, with a very light, pale blue button-down, blue and grey organic designs and rhinestones covering it, collar popped. He slipped on a pale black pinstripe suit jacket and matching slacks.

 

Sharpay called him into her bigger room, since that’s where the make-up table was. She was wearing her cerulean blue salsa-style dress, covered in sequins. She ushered him over, and he did her makeup and hair, just like they’d planned. When he was finished he handed her a small mirror, and she studied herself, giving him an approving smile to which he grinned proudly.

 

Then she sat _him_ down, and did his makeup, fluffing his hair with the help of some gell. He smiled at himself in the mirror, then at his sister’s reflection. They really did work well together. Sharpay slipped on the rest of her jewelry, shiny silver and blue, Ryan grabbed his hat, black with an off-white band, and they went backstage to wait.

 

Ms. Darbus called them out and they were off, headsets already in place. Ryan danced onto the stage, stripping out of his jacket and throwing it aside in a gallant show. Everything was planned, there was to be _no_ improv. During the intro they spoke in spanish, making their way towards each other. Sharpay sang first, and Ryan backed up to allow her the spotlight for a moment, subtly gyrating his hips.

 

He then moved up, singing out his part in response. He had no clue why, but they’d included a lot of hip work on his part, and now it was starting to lead his mind toward _other_ things. He shook it off with a flying leap, singing just as he nailed the landing. He jumped back into place without skipping a beat.

 

Sharpay noticed that he was a tad bit out of it, so she smiled at him encouragingly, nodding only enough for him to see as they clasped hands briefly in their dance. They didn’t skip a beat, and their performance was flawless. He tipped his black fedora forward on his head, smiling as he sang. It wasn’t often that his sister was like this, gentle and encouraging instead of harsh and demanding, but she knew that Ryan wanted this too, more than anything, so they gave each other strength.

 

He rubbed his hands along his body as he sang, trusting completely that Shapray was doing her part flawlessly as well. The spotlight expanded as the Evans twins moved to the back of the stage, lighting up the ladder that he’d been painting gold earlier, everything but the gold rungs covered in gold tinsel. They danced smoothly to either side of the ladder and climbed up in an elegant finale.

 

They posed at the very end as the audience applauded, breathing heavily yet each showing a dazzling smile. They descended the ladder and bowed together once, then Ryan backed up and applauded his sister as she bowed again. As Sharpay walked off-stage to wait for her plan to unfold, Ryan grinned and flung his hat into the audience, a group of boys toward the back fighting to catch it for themselves.

 

Ms. Darbus complimented them, and they soaked up the attention from where they were standing at the edge of the curtain. The theatre instructor announced Troy and Gabriella, and Ryan wasn’t surprised when neither of them appeared. Kelsi and Ms. Darbus exchanged a few words, and the little pianist looked like she was about to cry as she turned and ran off-stage. Sharpay smiled at him, but Ryan couldn’t be happy, not when they were the cause of multiple people being so upset.

 

Just then, Troy sprinted toward the stage, frantically telling them to wait, and Gabriella came running from the other end of the theatre. Troy insisted, “We’re ready, we can sing,” and he wasn’t even out of breath.

 

“I called your names, twice,” Ms. Darbus dismissed.

 

But Gabriella was soon to interrupt, “Ms. Darbus please!” She clasped her hands together, adding another more insistent, “Please!”

 

Ms. Darbus waved them off. “Rules are rules!”

 

Ryan watched in awe as practically the entire school poured into the theatre, basketball players, brainiacs, parents… He absently followed Sharpay as she went to Ms. Darbus to offer to do it again, his body on auto-pilot as he searched the crowd. _There_. He saw Chad, bouncing along with his teammates, like always. He grinned, surprising even himself. He was dimly aware of Ms. Darbus saying something about not having a pianist anyways, and he turned away from the crowd, saying, “Well, that’s show biz.”

 

Troy Bolton, stubborn as he was, insisted, “We’ll sing without a piano.”

 

“Oh no, you won’t!” a voice said, and Ryan looked behind Troy to see that Kelsi had returned. “Pianist here, Ms. Darbus.”

 

Sharpay stepped forward threateningly, and practically growled, “You really don’t want to do that.”

 

To everyone’s shock, Kelsi stood up to the older Evans twin, “Oh yes, I really do.” She then turned to sit at the piano, calling out, “Ready on stage!”

 

Sharpay stared after her in utter shock before moving to stand on the other side of Ryan, indignantly trying to save her image. Ms. Darbus, in a characteristic show of sass, said, “Now _that’s_ show biz.” They turned to watch her go, and Ryan was in utter shock, but he was really happy that everything worked out alright. Sharpay spun around and dashed off-stage, Ryan knew she was going to her dressing room, so he moved to follow her, as usual, but stopped when he was hidden by the curtain. This he wanted to see.

 

Kelsi started playing, but when Gabriella failed to sing, she stopped, waiting patiently for her to get ready. Troy moved over to say something to Gabriella, and after a moment, he nodded at Kelsi, who began playing once again. This time Troy started singing first, and Ryan’s heart beat faster in his chest. _God_ would he ever get over his voice?

 

Their choreography was smooth, but it looked unplanned, natural. Had they even practiced the dance, or was it just them being them? Ryan peeked out from behind the curtain, and he saw Chad, smiling wide, and he knew he was screwed. There was no possible way that he could hear Troy’s Godly voice, and see Chad’s downright perfect _everything_ and not get so flustered that he could barely breathe.

 

He bolted off of the stage right when the song ended, heart beating faster than ever, out of breath, and struggling to walk straight. He wasn’t gay, it was just… bad timing. Yeah, that made sense right? He flung himself into his dressing room, locked both doors and turned up some music so no one would hear him. He couldn’t believe he was doing this… again. It was so tacky, and downright idiotic.

 

He was just about to unfasten his slacks when someone knocked on his door, and he froze. He cautiously opened the door to see none other than Troy Bolton standing there, looking a little nervous. “Hey, uh,” the basketball captain stuttered, “I just wanted to say good luck with getting the part.” He was so sincere and nice, and Ryan hated it. Ryan _hated_ that Troy could do this to him without even trying. He didn’t know what he was doing, but he found himself grabbing Troy by the front of his shirt and kissing him, hard.

 

Troy was taken aback, but quickly relaxed, kissing him back willingly. When they broke apart, Ryan was so turned on that he didn’t think about anything that he did. He pulled Troy into the small dressing room, closing and locking the door behind them, and kissed him again, this time deepening it, licking Troy’s bottom lip until he opened his mouth. Ryan pushed his tongue into Troy’s mouth, tasting subtle mint, like he’d been chewing gum.

 

They were standing so close, and Ryan couldn’t stand it. He pushed Troy back against the wall, and the jock groaned in protest as their lips parted. Ryan knew that they both wanted this, so he didn’t hold back, even though he knew this wasn’t the right person to be doing this with, in so many ways. He leaned up and continued to forcefully kiss him, pressing his leg between Chad’s- er, _Troy’s_ thighs, earning him a trembling moan. Ryan could feel Troy’s hard dick against his leg, and he moved down to kiss his neck, messy and wet.

 

Chad- no this was _Troy-_ was making the most intoxicating sounds, and Ryan groaned as he rutted against him, rubbing their hips together. Ryan shoved his hands up the other boy’s shirt, rubbing his chest, thumbing his hard nipples. Oh good God, this was the best thing he’d ever done.

 

Chad- damn it, this was still _Troy-_ was breathing heavily under him, gasping and moaning, which in turn set Ryan off, making him thrust his hips more frantically and rub his chest less evenly, his kisses getting more sloppy. It was a vicious cycle, and Ryan _loved_ it. He reached down with one hand, keeping Troy pinned to the wall with the other, and unfastened his slacks, slipping his hard dick out, doing the same for Troy.

 

They were both moaning and gasping, and Ryan looked up at Troy. His head was leaning against the wall behind him, and he looked absolutely _wrecked_. Ryan imagined what Chad would look like in this situation and shivered, watching his face as he wrapped his hand around both of their freed erections, jerking them both off at the same time. His mind was translating Troy’s actions into the image of Chad doing the same, so when his eyes flew open for a second before slamming shut again, Ryan only saw Chad’s deep brown eyes. He saw Chad’s dark lips wet, parting to let out moans and gasps. He saw Chad’s toned pecs showing through the tight shirts he always wore. It was so hot, and Ryan rubbed harder, wanting to make him understand what he’d been going through since new years eve.

 

It didn’t take long, and soon Troy- Chad in Ryan’s mind- was gripping Ryan’s hips, thrusting up into his hand, and trying to say something. Ryan didn’t care, he simply thrusted with him, unable to think straight as he climbed higher and higher. He felt the other boy stiffen under him, and felt the wet heat on his hand as the basketball player came, and Ryan let out a whimpering gasp that somewhat resembled Chad’s name as he too reached his climax.

 

His hand made a few more absent pumps before he leaned up and kissed what he thought was Chad lightly, gently. Then it hit him. Oh God, what had he just done? “Y-you should get going,” Ryan gasped as he drew away, taking in Troy’s sweaty, limp body, leaning heavily on the wall as he tried to catch his breath.

 

Troy nodded. “Yeah,” was all he said.

 

“Um, can you maybe…?” Ryan didn’t know how to say it, so he simply trailed off.

 

But Troy seemed to get the picture, “Yeah, don’t worry about it. You’re not gay and in love with my best friend, and I totally didn’t just cheat on my girlfriend… with a dude.” He flashed Ryan an awkward smile as he tucked himself away and left the room, pausing at the door but not glancing back.

 

 _Oh God, oh God, oh God_ , Ryan’s mind screamed on repeat as he hurriedly zipped up his slacks and sat, letting his mind calm down.

 

Okay, so maybe he _was_ gay.

 

***

 

He walked into the gym with Sharpay as the game ended, and the Wildcats had won by the looks of it. His sister went to congratulate Gabriella on getting the lead part, as as they made their way across the gym, Zeke jumped in. “Hey Sharpay!” he said in that smooth, gentle voice of his. “I'm sorry you didn't get the lead, but I think that you're really good. I admire you so much.” Ryan could tell that Zeke was infatuated by his sister, and he smiled fondly at the idea- Zeke was a good guy.

 

Sharpay glanced at him, “And why wouldn’t you? Now, bye-bye.”

 

She moved to leave, but Zeke awkwardly stopped her, “Oh, wait. I baked you some cookies!” He took a few cookies that were covered in plastic-wrap out of his gym-bag and offered them to Sharpay, who cringed, rejecting him.

 

Ryan took them for her as she strutted away. “Nice game,” he said to Zeke, grinning widely.

 

Zeke grasped his shoulder briefly, and this time, Ryan was unfazed. He knew who he wanted now, and it wasn’t Zeke Baylor, or Ashton Kutcher, or even Troy Bolton- not that the thing in the dressing room had been bad, far from it in fact. It was just that he knew they’d never work, and Troy had a girlfriend for God’s sake; Ryan knew that it had been a heat of the moment thing, and he knew that Troy understood that. Troy did have a lot of good qualities, but he wasn’t really Ryan’s type, this he knew.

 

No, Ryan wanted the cute, funny jock, who he knew was stubborn through and through, but who’d shown East High that even he could change. Chad Danforth. Ryan didn’t know how he’d survive one and a half more years of high school knowing that Chad could pop up any time, anywhere, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

  
“We’re all in this together,” he murmured, smiling, as he followed Sharpay out of the building.


	4. BONUS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO   
> YOU WERE GOOD PEOPLE SO HERE'S A BONUS
> 
> I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL AND I'M PROUD  
> FIGHT ME

Ryan opened the passenger door to his moderately-sized, yet expensive car, helping his sister in and closing the door for her. He walked around to the driver side, plastic-wrapped cookies from Zeke in hand as he slid into his seat behind the steering-wheel. “Are you sure you don’t want these?” he asked, gesturing with the cookies.

 

Sharpay glared at them, disgusted. “I’m positive, Ry.”

 

He shrugged, unwrapping them. “Well I for one want to see how good this Zeke is at baking.” He took a bite out of one of them and melted into the seat, moaning around the food. “Oh _ God _ ,” moaned, “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” It was far from a lie, with all of the five star French and Italian cuisine his family ate on a regular basis, this was far better.

 

Sharpay snatched one of the cookies from him, eying her brother- who was practically unable to function at the moment- and took a bite for herself. She let out a moan that was downright  _ filthy _ but Ryan was way too absorbed in his own experience to hear her (thankfully, because that was one noise he  _ never _ needed to hear from his sister). He glanced over just in time to see her bolt from the car. “Wait, Shar, where are you going?” he called, but she was too far to hear him.

 

He shook his head, leaning back into his seat and just losing himself in the flavour of the magnificent cookie in his hand. He lost track of time, and soon enough he was jamming out to the Hamilton sound-track, speakers turned up high. The passenger door opened and he turned the volume down as Sharpay climbed back in, smile on her face. He watched her expectantly.

 

After a few minutes he didn’t think she was going to say anything, but the atmosphere was open and friendly, so he blurted, “I have to tell you something,” just as Sharpay said the same, in perfect sync. They both chuckled at the coincidence, and Ryan gestured to her, “You first.”

 

She nodded and replied, “Zeke is amazing.” Ryan smiled widely, glad that Zeke had gotten his wish and that Sharpay had someone as good as Zeke to go out with. She went on, “He said he’ll bake for me all the time, and he might even make me creme brule!” Ryan rolled his eyes, amused. “He’s so nice, and you have no idea how smooth his skin is! Do you think he goes to a spa?”

 

Ryan let her go on for a while before laying his hand on her shoulder, silencing her. “Shar, I  _ need _ to tell you something.” She smiled apologetically and nodded to him, patiently waiting for him to begin. He took a deep calming breath and blurted out, “I’m gay.” She simply stared at him, as if waiting for more, not angry, or excited, or even shocked. “What?” he asked, confused by her reaction.

 

She gave him a look, saying like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “You can’t just tell me that you’re gay and not give me details, Ryan! Who do you like? Have you kissed anyone?”

 

He smirked,  _ oh _ of course. He sighed, gathering his nerves again. “Well… You know Chad Danforth?” he began, a little timid. She nodded, a spark of excitement flashing in her eyes. “I think he’s the most gorgeous guy ever. He’s just so… perfect! In every way!” He was finally starting to loosen up, this felt right, natural. “Have you seen his eyes? Or his muscles?” He was well aware that he was gushing over the guy, but he couldn’t help it.

 

Sharpay broke in again when he paused, asking, “Have you kissed him yet?”

 

Ryan shifted awkwardly. “Uh, no, I haven’t kissed  _ Chad _ .” Mistake: he definitely shouldn’t have emphasised Chad’s name.

 

Sharpay’s eyes widened in excitement, “Ooh, who did you kiss, baby brother?”

 

He drew a hand down his face, which he noticed was getting really hot. “Uh… so, you know, um, Troy?”

 

His sister suddenly grabbed his arm. “ _ Troy Bolton _ ?” she gasped. “When? Where?”

 

He swallowed thickly, God this was embarrassing. “Uh, right after he sang with Gabriella for the callbacks?” he choked out. Sharpay stared at him, dumbstruck. He went on- he really should have stopped though. “He came into my dressing room, and I couldn’t stop myself, I just… grabbed him.”

 

Sharpay broke in again. “What happened? How did he react?” She was genuinely curious, and Ryan couldn’t lie to her, he never could. 

 

He  _ could _ leave quite a few things out, however. “Let’s just say that I’ll be needing to wash my own clothes tonight.” 

 

His sister gasped, punching him lightly on the shoulder, “You sly dog!” 

 

Ryan blushed, turning to start the car. “We, uh… We’re keeping it a secret,” he stammered, “It was a one-time thing.”

  
Sharpay nodded, and to Ryan’s relief she dropped the subject. He was really glad to have someone like her for a sister. A twin sister.

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a joke, kill me.
> 
> Let me know what you think!  
> (also kudos are appreciated)


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